Forced Movement on a Prone Target

[Camelot]

One player, a swordmage, was reduced to negative hit points, so she fell unconscious, and thus fell prone. When the bard's turn came, he decided to heal her with majestic word. Majestic word lets the target spend a healing surge and regain addition hp equal to the bard's charisma modifier, and then the bard can slide the target one square. The first part was fine, but then we got to the sliding.

Since the swordmage had been knocked unconscious, she had fallen prone. The bard healed her to positive hit points, so she regained consciousness, but in order to stand up she would need to expend a move action, and it wasn't her turn. Sliding a prone target seems a little strange in the roleplaying sense, especially since majestic word makes it seem like the target is inspired into movement from the spell.

Is there a rule about sliding prone targets one way or the other, or is it up to the DM based on the flavor of the power?

 

[Flipguarder]

why would forced movement NOT work on a prone target?

 

[Mort_Q]

Swordmage crawled a square, and lay back down, gathering strength, waiting for her turn in the initiative order.

Easy.

They weird part would be moving the unconscious/dying characters... but... with a little creativity....

As you suggested, it's up to the DM if, and how, it works.

 

[Kordeth]

Quoth the Errata:

Prone [Addition]
Player’s Handbook, page 277
Add “You can’t move from your space, although you can teleport, crawl, or be forced to move by a pull, a push, or a slide.”

So yes, the bard sliding the target works. A power that allowed an ally to shift, however, would not.

 

[keterys]

The odd thing is more that the bard slides targets instead of shifting them.

 

[Flipguarder]

i love that the bard slides instead of shifts. It makes so much sense for a class that does so many other fun stuff.

 

[keterys]

Yep - it just means that their magic is lifting and moving the targets, instead of giving the targets energy or anything like that. It does work on unconscious or immobilized allies, after all, even if they stay unconscious after the effect. Whisk them out of gelatinous cubes, fling them across pits (as long as you have enough movement to carry them completely from one side to the other), dance them around enemies, etc.

 

[MrBeens]

i love that the bard slides instead of shifts. It makes so much sense for a class that does so many other fun stuff.

Movement that comes from someone else is never a shift - slide, push and pull.
Shifting is a form of movement that a person does to themselves.
You can shift whilst you are prone.

 

[Oompa]

Movement that comes from someone else is never a shift - slide, push and pull.
Shifting is a form of movement that a person does to themselves.
You can shift whilst you are prone.

No you cannot shift while prone, read the above already stated rules;
And someone else can make you shift, only you have to accept it

Originally Posted by PHB Errata
Prone [Addition]
Player’s Handbook, page 277
Add “You can’t move from your space, although you can teleport, crawl, or be forced to move by a pull, a push, or a slide.”

 

[keterys]

Lots of powers give allies the ability to shift - for example, Covering Attack. Which is a good comparison to the 'I pick you up and bodily move you' Get Over Here.